The figure is sharply up on last year’s 29 fatalities and higher than the five-year average of 37 annual deaths.

Construction made up a third of the 135 workers killed in work-related accidents across all industries in the UK in the 12 months to March 2023.

It was the most dangerous industry followed by the combined sector of agriculture, forestry and fishing with 21 deaths and manufacturing with 15 deaths.

Latest annual figures for Mesothelioma – the cancer that can be caused by past exposure to asbestos – show that 2,268 people died from the disease in 2021.

Current mesothelioma deaths reflect exposure to asbestos that mainly occurred before the 1980s and annual deaths are expected to decline during the next decade.